Young Link stretched his arms and yawned on the roof of the temple. He watched over the rose garden with a satisfied grin, glad he could protect Cia from the Hyrulean army. Of course, Sky and Wolf had helped quite a bit during that. He was quite proud of his grandson for what he had done, saving Lana when Young Link could not.
His grin turned into a frown as he felt an odd amount of dark energy emitting from his mask. He unhooked it from his belt and stared into its blank eyes.
"No," he spat. "I'm not letting you take me over. And you aren't getting to my grandson either. Or Sky. You're staying with me forever so you can't hurt anyone else."
He latched it back onto his belt and crossed his arms defiantly. The spirit trapped inside the Fierce Deity's Mask was becoming increasingly restless as of late. Perhaps it was because there were so many enemies it could take its frustration out on.
Or perhaps it knew Young Link's "unbreakable" spirit wouldn't be able to take the darkness much longer.
Sky Link – or so he was called nowadays – sat by the fireplace. He couldn't help but think of Zelda. Was she lonely without him? She was no doubt up in Skyloft with her father and Groose.
Groose… Sky Link allowed himself a small smile as he thought of the one-sided rivalry they shared. While Link was as worried about Zelda as Groose was, he also had the burden of destroying Demise and his, uh, eccentric servant.
That reminded Sky Link. Was there any kind of alternate version of Ghirahim or Demise here? Honestly, Ghirahim worried him more. Demise certainly wasn't a foe to take lightly, but at least he wasn't a stalker and knew the meaning of "personal space." Sky Link was happy that he (hopefully) wouldn't have to deal with villains as odd and him.
As Sky Link thought more about his adventure, his mind wandered to what Cia said about this previous life he had with the Goddess. He apparently knew Zelda before, albeit briefly.
"Hey, Cia," he called to her across the room where she sat studying a map at a desk.
Her head shot up from her plans. "What is it?"
Sky Link waved her over and she pulled up a chair next to him. "I want to ask you about this past life of mine with the Goddess. It's so weird just knowing Zelda and I have been together before, and yet we don't recognize each other…"
"If you'd like to know about him, I can help with that." Cia conjured up a glass ball in her hands. "I'll let you borrow this if you promise to be very careful with it. Usually it only works for me, but for now you can use it. Just tell it what you want to see and it'll show you."
She gingerly placed the ball in Sky Link's hands. "Is this what you used to see me as the Guardian of Time?" he asked.
Cia nodded in response. "Give it back to me when you're done." With that, she headed back over to her map.
Sky Link stared into the sphere, his face twisted with confusion. How was he supposed to use this thing? Cia said to just tell it what to show him, but was it really that simple? Still, he was too curious not to try it.
"Okay," he sighed. He held the ball in front of his face. "Show me my pervious life."
Dark blue fog immediately filled the empty space in it. The fog cleared out as soon as it came and left an image in its wake. The image depicted a man, at least a decade than Link, sitting in a prison cell with his arms in handcuffs above his head bolted to the hall. His head hung down limply, his pale blond bangs covering his eyes.
That's me, Sky Link thought frantically. It must be!
For a few long seconds, the other Link sat limply in the same position until a guard came with a small tray of disgusting-looking food in his hands.
"H-Hey," the soldier called, trying (and failing) to give of the air of authority. "It's time to eat now."
Link slowly and menacingly raised his head to reveal a sly grin. "Well, aren't you going to give it here?" he asked teasingly. "I can't eat it if I don't have it."
The guard winced, knowing he'd have to do what his prisoner said. He hesitantly unhooked a ring of keys from his belt, jammed one into the lock, and turned it. A bead of sweat rolled down his forehead as he took a step into the cell.
"A little closer," Link coaxed mockingly.
The soldier bit his lip and took another step. He placed the tray on the floor and nudged it towards Link with his toe. Satisfied, he turned to leave.
"Wait a minute," Link stopped him, his smile never fading. "I can't eat it if my hands are chained up like this."
The guard inhaled sharply. "U-Uh, I'll get someone to-"
"But you have the key," Link argued, his tone still kind and soft. "And I'm hungry, so I can't wait for you to get someone else. I won't hurt you, I promise."
"Yeah, right," the guard huffed. But even so, he cautiously approached the prisoner, halting a foot away. He leaned over and placed a key in the shackles from as far a distance as possible, undoing the bindings. Once Link's hands were free, the guard ran out of the cell and slammed the barred door shut, locking it in place.
"Thank you, Henry," Link grinned cunningly, rubbing his wrists.
"Don't refer to me so familiarly," Henry snapped. "It's Sir to scum like you!"
"Oh, Henry," Link sighed. "Out of everyone in the army, I thought you'd be the one to defend me. You were always hanging around me and admiring me."
"Before I found out you were a murderer," Henry spat. "You can rot inside your cell for all eternity for all I care!" He kicked the steel bars of the door furiously. "Just die!"
Link watched Henry storm out with an uncaring expression. "Well, aren't we snippy today?" He grabbed the soup on his tray and grimaced at the murky liquid.
Meanwhile, Sky Link sagged his shoulders as he gazed into the ball solemnly. The existence his lived was so miserable, and yet he went through all of it armed with only his sarcasm. A smile crossed his lips as he thought of Young Link. In fact, this past Link looked a lot like Young Link himself.
But, still, his previous life's grin was fading as he drank the soup from the bowl. Once finished, he chucked the bowl lazily against the stone wall, causing it to shatter.
"That's enough of that," he muttered. He leaned against the wall with his hands behind his head. "I'll get out of here someday, I just have to endure it for now. Soon they'll realize I was framed by the king. Soon."
Sky Link's smile turned into a frown at his other self's words. It was clear that behind all that sarcasm was a man tired of confinement, perhaps even going mad because of it. Sky Link lowered his gaze, sure he had seen everything he needed to for now.
"Show me," he added hesitantly. "what the Goddess was doing during all this."
More fog filled the sphere and cleared out once more. The image now depicted the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her beauty was almost otherworldly in a sense, with her long blond hair and elegant dress that seemed to illuminate the area around her. Her light blue eyes, nearly clear in color, studied something below the cloud-like surface she stood on.
"It's a shame," a girl next to her sighed. The girl had pastel green hair that reached to her back, some of it tied up in buns on her head. She appeared to be around fourteen years of age, much younger than the graceful woman by her side. Her outfit resembled Link's, oddly enough, being a green tunic with white pants, though it was more feminine in design.
"I know it is," the blond woman, whom Sky Link assumed to be the Goddess, replied solemnly. "But it has to be done."
"No it doesn't!" the green-haired girl snapped. "He doesn't deserve this. Link was the best knight your army has ever had, and now they're mocking him. I saw them a few weeks ago, burning his things in a bonfire. Now he has nothing to go back to."
"He won't ever go back, Farore," Hylia said softly. "You know that as well as I. It's designed by fate and we can't change that. He's the only one who can stop Demise, and there's a price he'll have to pay. It's like they say: the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."
"But it's not fair," Farore repeated defiantly. "You told me to make his spirit tough, so why is it necessary to make it tougher?"
"Because his mind and body are not ready yet," Hylia replied. "But the time is coming. Demise will come over the land soon and when the king becomes cowardly, he will confess to his crime of framing the knight and ask for Link to be freed and save everyone."
"And then Link will be sent to his death," Farore huffed. "You know, he's a lot better than most of the people in the stupid world. But…when he dies, he'll be up here with us, right? So then he'll be safe."
"I'm...afraid not."
"Huh?" Farore stared at Hylia, her green eyes wide with worry and fear. "You're kidding, right? Everyone comes up here when they die."
"I know what she's talking about," a tall, muscular woman with red hair tied in a ponytail said. She approached Farore with a crooked grin. "She's not planning on letting poor Link down there rest in peace. Ever."
"Ever?" Farore gasped.
Another, more elegant woman with a blue braid strode to the group. "Din, can you please not worry the poor girl? She's already afraid for his safety in the upcoming battle."
"Let me tell her Nayru," Din interrupted. "You see, Hylia fell in love~!" She clasped her hands next to her face and swooned mockingly, "And she's going to be reincarnated with her darling hero!"
"Din," Hylia snapped, her cheeks now red. "That's not the whole story."
"But that can't be true, can it?" Farore asked, her tone filled with fear. "You won't leave us because you're in love with a human, right?"
Hylia avoided her gaze. "Let me explain. I did fall in love with him, but that's only part of the reason I'm going to join him in another life. I will place a seal on Demise, but it won't last forever. When it weakens, we'll be reborn and we can use the Triforce to defeat Demise once and for all. After that, I plan for us to enter the afterlife together. And then we can all be together. So eventually, we'll have our happy ending."
"…Promise?" Farore sniffed, on the verge of tears.
"I promise," Hylia replied with a kind smile. "Just be patient."
Sky Link watched the Goddesses hook pinkies playfully from the temple. "I…I've seen enough," he told the glass ball quietly. Hylia and the Golden Goddesses disappeared from view, leaving him alone with the questions swirling around in his brain.
"In love?" Did he hear that right? No, that… That would be impossible. He and Zelda didn't love each other. Did they? Did Zelda love him? If she did as Hylia, then why didn't she remember him?
"Don't blame Hylia," Cia said suddenly from her spot across the room. "Love makes people do careless things. After being in that prison for four years, she simply wanted you to be able to feel the innocence of a child and the peace that was taken from you for so long. She didn't mean for you two to be reborn endlessly. That was Demise's fault."
"Yeah, I know," Sky Link replied solemnly. "It's just…how come she just didn't stay a Goddess? It would make things a lot easier for both of us to save the world."
"Yes, but she wanted to grow old with you and for you both to spend every brief moment of your mortal lives together," Cia explained. "You shouldn't hold a grudge against her."
"But I would still love her even if she was a Goddess," Sky Link sighed. "I guess there's no sense in dwelling on it…"
However, he couldn't help but dwell on it. How could Zelda – or rather Hylia – make such a careless decision? Most of his quest was saving Zelda, so his adventure wouldn't have only been easier, but shorter if she was a Goddess.
"I'm gonna go to my room…" Sky Link muttered, setting the glass ball on his chair as he stood up. He dragged his feet down the hall, as far away as he could from where he witnessed Hylia's critical mistake that pretty much doomed them both to the same fate for all eternity. And Link himself would constantly go through trials and near-death experiences, all for a girl he would forget about in his next life.
Little did Sky Link know, Cia was grinning wickedly over her map as he exited. "That's right, little hero," she chuckled. "Go on and hate her. I'll save you from her foolishness. I swear it."
*Oooh Cia's plan is going into action! :0
Hylia: Oh, come on! Who wouldn't do the same thing? Look at how hot he is!
Nayru: Y-Your Grace! *sweat*
Hylia's Hero: No, she's right. I am irresistible. *strikes pose*
And for those of you who don't know, that who thing was based on the SS prequel manga found in Hyrule Historia. Give it a read! And don't forget to review! If you do, you get a Link of your choice! ;) Except TP Link. He's mine. :3
K bye.*